New Hampshire’s Comprehensive Strategic Plan for Early Childhood combines early learning and development, health, and family support to provide a full-spectrum approach to helping the next generation of Granite Staters grow to become healthy and productive citizens.
Teachers are a vital part of that plan. It includes support for both professional development and resource allocation for practitioners and service providers, ensuring that the committed, dedicated folks who go into early childhood education receive the kind of training and feedback they need to excel.
Sponsored School(s)
Unfortunately, as of 2019, there are far too few of those individuals to go around. The New Hampshire state Department of Education names both Early Childhood Education Teachers and Early Childhood Special Education Specialists on its list for critical staffing shortages. Wrangling a classroom of 4-year-olds isn’t an easy skill to master, but if you have the aptitude and the heart to manage it, New Hampshire has a job for you.
To teach early childhood education in New Hampshire, which is recognized as birth through grade 3, you must earn a teaching certificate through the New Hampshire Department of Education, Bureau of
Step 1. Complete an Educator Preparation Program in Early Childhood Education
To become certified to teach preschool in New Hampshire, you must first complete a professional educator preparation program. In New Hampshire, there are 8 programs in early childhood education.
An educator preparation program in early childhood education must be able to provide students with the following skills, competencies, and knowledge through a combination of academic and supervised field experiences:
- Child development and learning
- Family and community relationships
- Documenting, assessing, and observing to support young children and families
- Professionalism
- Teaching and learning in:
- Language and literacy
- The arts
- Mathematics
- Health and physical activity
- Science
- Social studies
Alternative Certification Process
You may also achieve certification in New Hampshire through an alternative certification process. Although there are a number of alternative certification programs in New Hampshire, individuals interested in becoming preschool teachers may qualify for the Alternative 3A certification process, which is designed for candidates who have gained the necessary experience, competencies, skills, and knowledge required for certification.
You may request certification through a written and oral examination process, provided you currently possess a bachelor’s degree and at least three, consecutive months of educational employment in early childhood education. After the Bureau of Credentialing has determined your eligibility, you must provide written evidence of competence for each required standard, which is accomplished through a written portfolio.
Upon approval of your portfolio, the Bureau of Credentialing will schedule you for a half-day oral examination with the Board of Examiners. The Board of Examiners is selected by the Bureau to represent the Department of Education.
After the completion of an oral examination, the Board will present the Administrator of the Bureau of Credentialing with a written recommendation for certification.
Step 2. Complete the Required Praxis Examinations
All teacher candidates seeking initial certification must document basic skills through the completion of the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators (CORE) examinations:
- Core Academic Skills for Educators: Reading
- Core Academic Skills for Educators: Writing
- Core Academic Skills for Educators: Mathematics
You must also take and pass the appropriate subject area assessment for early childhood education certification. You may take either one of the following:
Note: You may be exempt from taking the above subject area assessment if:
- You possess a master’s degree or higher in early childhood education; OR
- You possess 7 or more years of educational experience in early childhood education under another state teaching credential
You can read more about the Praxis examination requirements in New Hampshire, including the registration and scheduling process here.
Step 3. Apply for New Hampshire Teacher Certification
Once you have met all of the requirements for certification as an early childhood educator in New Hampshire, you must apply for certification, which can be done online or by completing a paper application.
If you have completed an approved program in New Hampshire, you may also receive a certification application from the institution’s education department. A certification application obtained from your college or university will bear the institution’s seal and signature of the individual authorized to recommend your educator certification.
If you are applying for certification through the Alternative 3A program, you must provide the Bureau of Credentialing with the following:
- A completed application
- Official college transcripts
- Employer verification of at least 3 months of full-time teaching
Ready to start your preschool teaching career with a bachelor’s degree in ECE or advance your career with a Master’s degree in ECE? Check out our comprehensive list of ECE degrees by State at various levels to determine what program is right for you.
Step 4. Maintain your New Hampshire Teaching Credential
All renewals for teaching certificates in New Hampshire may be completed through the Educator Information System (EIS), an online system that allows you to complete the renewal process for your New Hampshire educator certification. You may also pay for the cost of renewal online.
You must complete at least 75 continuing education units of professional development during the three-year certification period, which must include at least 30 units in early childhood education.
New Hampshire Preschool Teacher Salaries
According to the New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau, preschool administrators will see the largest job growth numbers in the state over the decade between 2016 and 2026. With a job growth rate of 10.4 percent, it’s right in line with what’s being seen elsewhere in the country. This will result in about 40 openings per year at that rate as a result of both new positions being created and normal turnover as existing teachers retire.
Teachers are expected to see an 8.5 percent rate of growth over the same period. Interestingly, New Hampshire comes in third in the nation in terms of the concentration of preschool teachers and second for preschool administrators.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), salary ranges for those ECE professionals looked like this in 2018 (median, top 25%, and top 10%):
Preschool Administrators: $48,100 – $61,900 – $75,850
Preschool Teacher: $29,230 – $34,800 – $41,530
But both salaries and job opportunities can vary considerably in different parts of the state. That’s why we’ve listed the salary data for the major metropolitan areas below, together with some of the larger employers for early childhood educators in those areas.
Manchester
These are some of the major employers for preschool administrators and teachers in the Manchester area:
- Manchester School District
- Marie Child Care Center
- Kiddie Corner Learning Center
- Immanuel Christian Preschool
- Augustin Preschool
- Alpha-Bits Learning Center
- The Growing Years
- New Morning Schools
At preschools in Manchester, teachers and administrators can expect to earn salaries within these ranges:
Preschool Administrators
- Median – $48,620
- 75th Percentile – $56,090
- 90th Percentile – $61,370
Preschool Teachers
- Median – $27,280
- 75th Percentile – $31,370
- 90th Percentile – $36,540
Portsmouth
Portsmouth leads the state in salaries for preschool administrators, working at facilities such as:
- Seacoast Community School
- Little Clipper Preschool
- The Treehouse School
- KinderCare
- The Cornerstone School
- Saint Patrick Academy
ECE professionals in Portsmouth can expect to earn salaries within these ranges:
Preschool Administrators
- Median – $56,240
- 75th Percentile – $66,220
- 90th Percentile – $81,330
Preschool Teachers
- Median – $28,360
- 75th Percentile – $34,320
- 90th Percentile – $45,980
Dover
Dover offers the highest salaries for teachers in the state at both the median and in the top ten percent.
- Dover School District
- Childlight Montessori
- Highland Farm Preschool
- Happy Helpers Preschool Center
- Little Tree Education
- Peter Cotton Tail Preschool
- Strafford County Head Start
Preschool teachers in Dover earn salaries within these ranges:
Preschool Teachers
- Median – $30,220
- 75th Percentile – $35,760
- 90th Percentile – $46,160
Salary and employment data compiled by the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics in May of 2018 for preschool teachers, preschool special education teachers and preschool administrators – https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nh.htm#11-9111. The BLS salary data shown here represents median – 90th percentile salary ranges for the state and its MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) and includes workers at all levels of education and experience. This data does not represent starting salaries.
Job growth projections sourced from the New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau and published in the U.S. Department of Labor-funded Long Term Occupational Projections (2016-2026) database – https://projectionscentral.com/Projections/LongTerm. Employment conditions in your area may vary.
All salary and job growth data accessed in September 2019.